Trending Now

You are here

Back on Track

Despite an early 2-run hole, the Wapakoneta Redskins charged back and shut the door defensively on the Versailles Tigers.

On a cloudy and windy day in Wapakoneta, pitching prevailed again for the Redskins as they beat the Tigers, 8-2.

Marshall Gerlach pitched 7 innings for the Redskins, giving up five hits and two walks. He gave up two runs in the first inning, neither of which were earned runs.

“Marshall came out and threw the game that we know Marshall is capable of throwing,” Wapakoneta varsity coach Jason Brandt said. “That’s the way he’s thrown for us the last two years. He had command of his pitches, kept the ball down and threw strikes.”

Gerlach said he was feeling the strike zone well and had good control of his off-speed pitches.

I felt great, I was hitting my spots,” Gerlach said. “Some of the pitches I left up, but luckily they didn’t hit those. I was just trying to mix in off-speed and just hit my spots. I was really controlling my change-up well today. I was getting it low, and it was getting people out.”

The Redskins had a couple errors in the first inning, a couple misplayed balls and some bad throws, that led to two runs from the Tigers.

“We made some errors right away, but I trust me defense,” Gerlach said. “I know that even if they miss a play, they will still have the confidence to come back and make the next.”

Brandt said despite the early hole, the Redskins got things going around the second time through the lineup.

“We didn’t help him at all in the first inning by making a couple of crucial errors that led to those two unearned runs,” Brandt said. “But going from there we came out in about the third inning and started to hit the ball pretty well and made some good plays in the third, fourth and fifth.”

Andrew Hines tied the game in the third inning with a 2-RBI double. Chandler Kaeck gave the Redskins a boost with two RBIs. Johnny Crawford brought a run across on his triple. Alex Koch drove in two runs and went 2-for-3 on the afternoon.

“It’s good to see all of those guys come through for us when they need to,” Brandt said.

Four straight games now, the Redskins have not given up an earned run. Last night’s two runs against were the first two runs since losing to Shawnee.

“Versailles is a good team, they were 8-2 coming in,” Brandt said. “Solid program, we just did a good job battling and playing our game.”

Brandt decided to call up Nate Kaeck from the JV squad to give Brandon Schreiber a break from catching.

“Bringing Nate up from the JV is just giving Brandon a little bit of a rest, he had caught 11 innings yesterday,” Brandt said. “We’ve got a lot of games coming up quickly, so this gave him a chance to rest his legs and rest his arms a little bit.”

Wapakoneta prepares for a game versus Bath tonight, weather permitting. Wapakoneta is now 6-4 on the season.